Rotary wire brush



June 17 1924,

E. F. FLETCHER ROTARY WIRE BRUSH Filed Jan. 2, 1923 lIIII-Iln ...Inl Il.i

Patented .lune 17, 1924.

fnora'R-Y WIRE BRUSH. v i

,For all .whom it 71mg/ .concern Beit-lnoivnthat I, EDWARD VF. FLEToHrR,

a cit-izenofithe United JStates,residing at Shrewsbury, -in the county1of Worcester an d "State oflassachusetts, 'have invented lnew and usefulRotary VireBrushesyof which vthe Afollowing isy f a specification.

This inventionrelates tofa Wire brush for use. in various industries,fas for example, Afor removing the vcarbon from the cylindei` .of ai gasengine, removingipaint'and varnish from `painted surfaces, vfsnaggingcastings, randin fact, iforiremoving any foreign substance or any kindof coating froma reason- .ably "hardsurface either flat,cur=vedor anyvother shape. i t

The invention involves Vthe iprovision of va. rotary hollowavir-e brushformed particularly :for the work albovetmentioned andprovvided With aiplu'g havin-gv means by Which the (fastening ofthe Wire bristlesbetween-the aplug and external 'comparatively heavy' :metal Icasing will.bepossible and practical .and whereby the hrushfcanbe mounted on 7 Athecnd=of theshaft, particularly a flexible` shaft'afxially iii-.alignmenttherewith. Itinvolves the construction of .the brush as well astheelements for mountingyit on the 4shaft and fastening the fbristles-in I it so that fthe ibrushl'cani clean yin `corners.

Reference is to ybe fhad ato the accompanyingdrawings, in Which Y Fig. 1is a side view of aliexible .shaft with a brush embodying this inventionapplied thereto and "showin'gitin use in a gas engine cylinder;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the brush, and

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectional View thereof.

The removal of carbon from the interior of gas engine cylinders is amatter that in volves considerable difficulty for several reasons thatare Well known and some of the difficulty is present wherever a foreigncoating is to be removed Whether the surface is concave, flat or anyother shape.

For the purpose of providing for the progressive motion of the cuttingedge of a metal brush in such a Way as to permit of its use in apractical Way for these purposes with a great reduction in the timerequired and improvement in the results, I provide a brush of thegeneral type in Which a hollow circular series of Wire bristles areinserted in a cylindrical cup of sheet metal and forced firmly againstthe Walls thereof by an f :Application filed Illanu'ary 2, 1923. SerialNo.1`610100.

,point between the fbasefand the face ofthe cup. This is donefordinarilyby forming a groove T19 around the cup'by means'of roll- 'ers 'orthelike and forcing Vthe instal ofthe .cup firmly against'the bristles sothat none of them vvillcome out. This, ofcourse, re-

.quires that inside there sha-lllbe a body ,suiii .ciently strong toIstand the pressure` and th-at Will not bepe-rmanently distorted by thatoper-ation. For this purpose,v-I.have provided a hollo'vv Wooden plug 12fitting Within the cylindrical series r`of bristles. n kThis is madehollow for `the 'passage lof a bolt 13 which is secured to the'hase ofthecuplb-y a nut 14;. This bolt `is att-ached to the end of a shaft 15,ypreferably a Vflexible y shaft, so

.that Vthe brush'is aXially in alignment with the end `thereof andprojecting therefrom and rotates on the axis of the shaft. Freelyrotatable on the "shaft is a hand grip 18.

:In orderthat the `Wooden plug :may stand the extreme pressure'to whichitis subjected =in.groovingthe cup, Iprovide a sleeve 16 of pressedinstal inside the `:passage through the plug fitting the screvvfthatpasses through it.

This sustains the pressure .back of the tvood and prevents thedistortion of the Wood in fasteningwthe `bristles into the cup lin `the.manner .above mentioned.

lFor the purpose of securing the right cutting action by the end of thebristles of the brush, I flare these bristles out at 17 near their endsso that While the bristles will be held in the cup in a cylindricalform, the active portion of the brush Will be'of conical form with thebase at the free ends of the bristles. This gives each bristle anangular position vas it cuts and furthermore spreads the cutting surfaceso that it will cut through a Wider field than would a cylindrical brushalone of the same size. Each bristle acts on the surface to which it isapplied in an angular position. I provide the conical shape by pressingthe cylindricalbrush in dies of conical form to Sli getting it intocorners and cleaning clear up toy a surface at an angle to that beingcleaned. By reason of the iiexible shaft this operation can be performedvery conveniently and quickly by this instrument.

This brush can be used for suchl wide uses as the snagging of castingsand the cleaning of barnacles oif ships, doing both kinds of work muchmore eectively than any method now known to me. I find in practice thatby these improvements, a very great saving of time is secured and thatthere is also saving of the brushes themselves because one yofthese'brushes used in this way will outlasta great number of theordinary brushes with the bristles used in 'the ordinary manner ofreci'procation.

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of theinvention, I am aware of the fact that modifications can be ends ofsaidv bristles being bent in an out` ward direction all around, saidcore having a` central passage therethrough, saidV casing being'compressed to hold the bristles in place, a sleeve fixed in saidpassage for resisting the pressure required in compressing the casing, abolt passing through said sleeve and having its end inside the brush,and a shaft in axial alignment with the bolt and brush to the end ofwhich said bolt is fixed.

2. As an article of manufacture, a circularbrush comprising a casing anda wooden core therein, a series of wire bristles intween the core andthecasing, the ends of said bristles being bent in an outward direction allaround, and the circumference of the metal casing being compressedagainst thebristles and wood to hold the bristles firmly against it,said Wooden core havinga central passage therethrough,and a metallicsleeve fixed in said passage for-resisting the pressure required infixing the bristles in the casing.

4i. As an article of manufacture, a circular brush comprising a metalcasing and a wooden core therein, with a series of wire bristlesinserted between the core and the casing, the ends of said bristlesbeing bent in an outward direction all around, and the circumference ofthe metal casing being compressed against the bristles and wood to holdthe bristles firmly against it, said wooden core having a centralpassage therethrough, a metallic sleeve fixed in said passage forresisting the pressure required in compressing the casing, a boltpassing through said sleeve and having its head inside the brush, and ashaft in axial align- Y Vaffixed my signature.

EDWARD E. FLETCHER.

